LMN Architects

LMN and Page Unveil the Design of the Austin Convention Center Redevelopment. As the 11th largest city in the United States, Austin continues to thrive as one of the nation’s most innovative urban centers. The new convention center aims to break the mold of traditional designs, becoming an integrated addition to the city’s urban fabric. The project features a series of distinct blocks that enhance pedestrian and vehicular connectivity, fostering engagement with the dynamic downtown landscape. By relocating exhibit halls and loading docks below grade, the design partially restores the city grid and introduces outdoor event spaces that promote interaction with the surrounding streets. Leonardo da Costa, Principal at LMN Architects, comments: “We are honored to be working on the Austin Convention Center Redevelopment with Page and a diversity of talented consultants. This expansion will provide more space, more events, and more ways for the community to connect, infused with everything that makes Austin so special and unique. The vertical convention center will open the city grid, enhance pedestrian connections, and take advantage of Austin’s indoor-outdoor culture. Located at the crossroads between downtown and the nature around Waller Creek, the project represents a transformative opportunity for revitalizing and re-connecting Austin’s vibrant downtown core.” To read the official announcement, we invite everyone to visit the LMN website: https://lnkd.in/gWc-X8Yg

Happy International Women’s Day! March is #WomensHistoryMonth and LMN is proud to honor and celebrate the remarkable contributions of women in the world. The lead up to International Women’s Day (IWD) provides a key opportunity to engage communities, raise awareness, and inspire audiences about the importance of collectively forging women’s equality. This year’s theme organized by the United Nations calls for action that can unlock equal rights, power and opportunities for all and a feminist future where no one is left behind. Central to this vision is empowering the next generation—youth, particularly young women and adolescent girls—as catalysts for lasting change. Tomorrow Saturday is IWD, and we would like to invite everyone to learn more about the celebrations at the UN Portal: https://lnkd.in/dpEhsgx

How do business students interact? A key issue in enhancing a school’s culture of community is a collaborative dialogue between the design team and the client and user groups, at all phases of the process. Ten years ago, LMN Architects conducted a post-occupancy research study in conjunction with the University of Washington and the UW Foster School of Business and presented at the regional and international conferences of the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP). Joining the research team were UW university architect Rebecca Barnes, FAIA; environmental psychology researcher Janice Fournier, PhD; and two Foster School students: 4th-year undergraduate Shelby Neal and MBA candidate Gabriel Jones. The results offer compelling insights on the importance of space design to the development of a successful social ecosystem in a program-specific university facility. Since the publication of that study LMN Architects has worked on 12 business school projects on 10 campuses. This year we are looking forward to the completion of three new state-of-the-art facilities: the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Tulloch Business Building at the University of Nevada, Reno, and the Steven D. Bell Hall at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In the context of all these exciting new projects opening in 2025 we invite everyone to check out the results of that study on our website: https://lnkd.in/gPYfdies

Over the last two decades, LMN Architects has been actively involved in research and analysis of modern business education. This has encompassed the evaluation of leading programs across the nation, their relationships to larger academic and business communities, and their physical facility needs within the context of major university campuses. Through this process we have gained a great understanding of the role business schools play in developing local and global connections within the academic and business communities. These connections in turn leverage the value of interdisciplinary teaching and research, strategic partnerships, and entrepreneurial innovation. During our work on the University of Washington UW Foster School of Business we developed the project around the concept of an integrated community where the social interactions of the students and faculty, natural environment of the campus, and context of the surrounding buildings converged in a highly interactive community space organized in a series of interconnected elements that accommodate small groups, large gatherings and a wide variety of informal student programs, activities and events. Materials and finishes are designed for permanence, sustainability and durability while conveying warm, welcoming connections to the surrounding campus. The design provides an ideal environment for contemplation, collaboration, teamwork, student engagement and meaningful conversation, while supporting connections with regional business and global academic communities. We invite everyone to check out some of our research on our website: https://lnkd.in/g5BshATn

Founders Hall at the University of Washington’s UW Foster School of Business designed by LMN Architects is the capstone of a two-decade initiative to update and modernize the entire five-building school complex. Standing alongside PACCAR Hall and Dempsey Hall, Founders Hall is intentionally designed to facilitate collaboration among students, faculty, and staff with two new 135-seat tiered classrooms, dedicated social spaces, and a plethora of collaborative event spaces. Using sustainability and wellness as an object lesson for future business leaders Think Wood is celebrating the project and is featuring this month a collection of interviews with Principal, Robert Smith and Principal, Kate Westbrook from LMN Architects. “Take an immersive video tour of Founders Hall at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business to see how mass timber design creates a community magnet that invites people in and encourages them to stay. By reducing the campus’s carbon footprint and creating a warm, natural experience on the interior, the building’s mass timber structure sets the business school apart as a leader in doing well by doing good.” To watch the short film, visit Think Wood: https://lnkd.in/grThiz3m

Mathewson Gateway Project named Best Education and Higher Education Project in the nation. Nevada Today reports on the award received by the new Tulloch Business Building at the University of Nevada, Reno designed by LMN Architects. “The University of Nevada, Reno Mathewson Gateway Project, developed by Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate, was selected as the Best Education and Higher Education Project at the P3 Awards ceremony in New York City. This prestigious award celebrates public-private partnerships that use innovative strategies to enhance educational facilities. “Located at the south end of campus and connecting to downtown Reno, the prominent Gateway site creates a new ‘front door’ to the University. The project includes the Gateway Parking Complex completed in January 2023, and the new College of Business building on schedule for completion in the summer of 2025. A future hospitality and conference venue will also be constructed, forming a seamless physical link between the University and Downtown Reno. This development is expected to foster greater business and community partnerships, driving regional economic growth.” To read the article, visit Nevada Today: https://lnkd.in/gz9GSX5s

LMN Architects designs environments that elevate the social experience, including at higher education institutions across the country. Our team has worked on 12 business school projects on 10 campuses, and this year we are looking forward to the completion of three new state-of-the-art facilities: the Gies College of Business - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Tulloch Business Building at the University of Nevada, Reno, and the Steven D. Bell Hall at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We create spaces for learning and research that foster both structured and spontaneous social engagement, in support of the pedagogic mission and soft skills which are at the core of business education. We seek to inspire future generations of business leaders while embodying the unique character of each institution. To learn more about these exciting new projects, visit our website: https://lnkd.in/gkFRjZqe: https://lnkd.in/gkFRjZqe

Published in the current issue of Interior Design Magazine, the Seattle Aquarium Ocean Pavilion designed by LMN Architects with Thinc Design is distinguished as the 2024 Best of Year project under the category for environmental impact. “Organic design inspired by ecology defines LMN Architects’s 50,000-square-foot Ocean Pavilion addition for Seattle Aquarium, an institution committed to ocean conservation. Expansive glazing—including an iconic oculus—bathes interior spaces in natural light, illuminating marine exhibits like the 500,000-gallon reef housing 120 species. Green materials, from carpet made of recycled fishing nets to recycled-paper Richlite paneling, reflect a commitment to environmental stewardship, while every detail, from the dichroic acrylic accents and exposed mechanicals to working with Indigenous consultants, speaks to transparency, inclusion, and interconnectedness.” To read the article, visit Interior Design Magazine: https://lnkd.in/gdkC_5uq

Ode to the Mukilteo Multimodal Ferry Terminal, part of Coast Salish history. The University of Washington Magazine celebrates the project designed by LMN Architects in collaboration with KPFF Consulting Engineers, and interviews Associate Mette Greenshields (she/her) on the current issue of the magazine. “The Mukilteo Multimodal Ferry Terminal is at once beautiful and practical. Built on the waterfront site where the Point Elliott Treaty was signed in 1855, a spot tribal communities have used for centuries, its elevated design is celebrated with the humble materials of wood, steel and concrete.” To read the article, visit the UW Magazine portal: https://lnkd.in/gN4az33H

LMN Architects is pleased to announce the addition of Cristian Asher to the Principal group and leadership team at the firm. Cristian Asher has joined LMN Architects in the role of Director of Business Development. This appointment strengthens the firm’s commitment to expanding its reach across North America. He brings nearly 18 years in the architecture industry to LMN, seven of those in executive positions leading marketing, communications, and BD teams in California, Oregon, and now Washington. At LMN, he will spearhead efforts to secure new projects within the firm’s five core market sectors and to consider new opportunities, geographies, and markets as they align with our values and celebrated portfolio. A lifelong lover of language and storytelling, Cristian has investigated and experimented with these topics throughout his career. Studying the cultural, strategic, and physiological aspects of storytelling and diving deep to understand the techniques of effective narrative and the chemistry of “your brain on a good story,” he has written about the importance of stories and storytelling as both cultural engine and an underutilized tool for personal and communal growth. At LMN, he has naturally engaged with the firm’s stories around design, sustainability, and social impact, and looks forward to bringing those to an ever-widening audience of clients, partners, and users of our spaces. To read the announcement, we invite you to visit our website: https://lnkd.in/ggx3K2V4